Blog Archives
What the Heck is Entomotoxicology?
The House fly
I’ve written before about the role of the forensic entomologist in death investigations. These professionals can provide critical information regarding the time since colonization and postmortem processes. One aspect of their analysis that is being utilized for frequently is the use of insects (like maggots) to screen for the presence of drugs or toxins (like Malathion). Before I get into the process, let’s discuss why this type of testing might be undertaken. Obviously, the presence of illicit drugs like cocaine, heroine, MDMA, or amphetamines, may provide critical information about a possible cause of death, criminal activity, and victimology. In the same light, the presence of prescription drugs may also shed light on the victim and their physical or mental health. Likewise, the absence of certain drugs may also reveal important clues surrounding the victim’s state of health. Did they need the medication to maintain a certain quality of life or health status?
Why not just review their medical records? First, the victim may not have a complete documented medical history. Some people gain access to prescription drugs through illegal or unethical means. Family members (even spouses or parents) may be unaware of certain health conditions. Additionally, the victim may not be identified at the crime scene. Insects like maggots can removes significant biomass during the decomposition process and some victim’s don’t have any identification on them. We may be able to extract DNA but that will be of little help if their profile is not on file. We may be able to construct certain features or details about their lives based on their physical possessions (clothing size, piercings, tattoos, etc.) but the presence of certain drugs or toxins may provide that extra clue that helps to narrow down missing person profiles.
The concept of using insects for drug screening is pretty straight forward. While the victim’s tissues and fluids (blood, urine) degrade through decomposition; the larvae do not. In effect, they act as mini-reservoirs. Eventually they will undergo some kind of metamorphosis but if they are found on a body they can be tested. As adults they tend to eliminate the toxins rather quickly but even trace amounts of some drugs have been found in recently emerged adult flies. Some research has even detected drugs in beetle frass (excrement) and fly puparia years after death. Testing is begun by crushing or grinding the insect samples in something like a mortar and pestle. There are a number of different tests that can then be performed including Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and radioimmunoassay (RIA). In many ways the testing sample is treated like any other biological tissue. The effects of various drugs and toxins on the rate of biological development (of the larvae) is not fully known. These types of exams primarily screen for the presence or absence of drugs and toxins. The effects of such substances on insect biology is another matter the entomologist must consider when estimating the postmortem interval.
As authors you may consider using insects as a testing source for drugs or toxins, especially when other tissues are not viable. Consider too the absence of certain prescribed drugs that may affect the victim’s behavior or general health. The drugs may be illegal or they may have been stolen by the suspect from another family member, friend, or co-worker. The presence or absence of drugs or toxins may also reveal a “unique” data point in the unidentified victim’s profile to compare against missing person’s records, medical records, or even criminal modus operandi (such as the use of a date rape drug or poisoning by mercury). You probably already have an interesting application of drugs or toxins in your storyline. The use of insects to test for those substances will provide for some interesting dialog between characters or plot twists for your readers.
Hidden Paths to Hidden Worlds
I love being out in the woods. I don’t mind walking established trails but it takes no convincing to get me “off trail”. One of the reasons I love getting off the beaten path is that I get to see things most people don’t. Wild critters, small brooks, or hidden canyons. I sit and wonder how long it has been since another person was seeing what I’m seeing.Most of the time I’m not that far away from the rest of those enjoying the outdoors. Maybe just over a hill or around a bend but, it makes all the difference in the experience. I often think “wow”, I would have never seen that bear, bobcat, or elk if I hadn’t come this way.
In the modern world we’re conditioned to follow certain paths. Sidewalks, roads, green belts, subways, etc. Think about it…don’t you take the same path to work everyday? What about the grocerie store, gas station, or your child’s school? Partly this is because we’ve determined the easiest, most efficient, route. But even when you’re going somewhere new you generally stay on some kind of path right? Don’t most of you hesitate to cross open space unless there is a trail? Even then, if there is a sign prohibiting it, most people won’t. This type of thinking limits the world we see and experience. Criminals aren’t restrained by thinking.
One of the toughest things to learn as a new CSI is to stop thinking like everyone else and start thinking like a criminal. You have to divorce yourself from even the most basic and accepted thoughts. Criminals have to conduct their “business” and get from point A to point B but, some of them don’t want to draw attention to themselves (just like animals). At least the successful ones don’t. They like to conduct their business in the “shadows” or “off the beaten path”. There is a whole world of activity going on right now…off that beaten path. These are worlds within worlds and it is the job of the CSI to find them (at least as they pertain to criminal activity).
These are places where most of us have no reason to go. Culverts, abandoned buildings, tunnels, and over grown gulches. Sometimes these places are right under our noses. I remember being a young officer and getting a call about a “satanic” alter being found at a movie theater. Turns out there was a “hidden” room above the concession stand but below the projector room. In the old days they used the room to cut film reels. It hadn’t been used in decades for that reason but someone was using it now. There was no way to tell how long it had been in use but that’s not my point. The point is that the activities were going on right under everyone’s noses because no one ever had reason to go in there. The room was “off limits”.
Don’t forget about these “hidden worlds” in your writing. I’ve made it a point in my novels to include such places and I think it adds a powerful layer of mystery to the settings. These places are even more frightening when your characters stumble upon them for the first time. It may be a detective, teenage runaway, or concerned parent. The possibilities are endless and can be driven by the structure itself. The video below is apparently from an old missile silo. Imagine the types of crimes that could be going on in such a place and how hard it would be for someone to stumble upon it? Might be a good idea for a novel eh?
Interview with Forensic Geologist Jim Reed
I have a special treat for you today F4F readers. Jim Reed is currently the Director of Research & Development for RockWare Incorporated, a geological software company based in Golden, Colorado with a European office in Lugano, Switzerland. Jim began studying geology at the University of Wyoming and ended up at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. His career as a geologist began in 1973 when he worked for NASA on the Mars Viking Lander project while moonlighting for Arch Minerals computing coal reserves in the Illinois Basin. He then went on to work as a project-level field geologist for Freeport Exploration (copper, gold, silver) in the Mojave Desert and southern New Mexico. From there, he became a regional-level field geologist for AMAX Exploration (molybdenum) in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California and the Trans-Pecos regions of southwestern Texas. He then became a senior geologist at Wold Minerals (uranium & talc) based in Austin, Texas. Since founding RockWare in 1983, Jim has worked in China, Africa, Cyprus, Russia and Papua New Guinea. His expertise includes environmental site contamination characterization, hydrogeology, mining, petroleum, and geotechnical volumetrics (computing the shape and mass of buried objects). I have known and worked with Jim for a number of years in NecroSearch and he’s the real deal.
F4F: Tell us a little about how you first became involved in forensic investigations?
REED: About 20 years ago, I got a call from Clark Davenport, a crazy geophysicist and soon-to-be mentor and lifelong friend, who was one of the co-founders of NecroSearch, a newly-formed, non-profit organization made up of volunteers from a variety of disciplines, many of which I had never even heard of. Entomology? What’s that? They were looking for a geo-nerd to apply geological software to their investigations. The timing was perfect because I was looking for something civic to become involved in. So I showed up at their next meeting and was absolutely captivated by the idea of working with real cops on real crimes. As a kid, I was always in trouble with the cops, so this was my chance to flip things around. Personal computing was fairly new at the time so I was considered a god. Nowadays, everybody in the group just thinks of me as an obnoxious computer geek.
F4F: Can you tell the readers the difference between forensic geology and geophysics?
REED: Geophysicists are just geologists who could pass calculus and physics. Geophysics always involves complicated-looking electronic gizmos with lots of blinking lights that measure things like soil conductivity (e.g. moisture) using outrageously simple concepts that are disguised by fancy jargon. I’m not exaggerating. Really. Consider a “resistivity” survey. Connect a wire from the positive end of a battery to a voltmeter. Then run a wire from the other pole of the voltmeter and stick it into the ground. Run a wire from the negative side of the battery into the ground, and voila, you’ve got a “resistivity meter” or a “soil conductivity meter”. By comparison, geologists are typically limited to rock hammers, colored pencils, and a compass, albeit a fancy compass. The term “forensics” has been muddied over the years to essentially apply to any endeavor that involves lawyers. If somebody’s house slips off its foundation, the homeowner’s attorney may hire a “forensic engineering geologist” to testify in the lawsuit with the contractor. The forensic engineering geologist, as opposed to a plain ol’ engineering geologist, knows to look at the jury and the judge when he/she answers a question rather than looking at the person who asked the question. That’s about it. In regards to crime-fighting, I consider a “forensic” prefix to mean that you know how to conduct yourself at a crime scene (drinking coffee, eating donuts, and swapping jokes), collect evidence, and provide expert testimony at the trial.
F4F: Most, if not all, forensic geologists are employed by private industry or universities. What do you see as the biggest challenge for a geologist working a forensic case for the first time?
REED: Wow, “for the first time”? That’s tough. I think the biggest challenge is to act like you know what you’re doing. Seriously. You may be at the top of your game geology-wise, but I can guarantee that you’ll fall apart on your first case. Here’s why; methodical, well-planned field methods fall apart when Channel X turns on the bright lights, sticks a microphone in your face, and the cutie asks a question that is so outrageously stupid that your brain locks up in an infinite loop, unable to come up with an answer that doesn’t come off as smartass, condescending, or extremely nerdy. In the end, you just come off as an idiot. Most geologists are used to working in remote locations by themselves where there’s nobody to see you screw up the first three times. It doesn’t help when you overhear law enforcement guys laughing amongst themselves, saying “Damn, I could have dug up this site with a backhoe in the time that it’s taking that geo-guy to figure out his GPS.” My advice to a geologist who’s working their first case is to find a mentor and mimic their every move. Another problem is that most science curricula beat young students over the head with the concept of the “observer effect” which essentially states that you can’t measure anything without effecting the outcome of the experiment. On a crime scene, the geologist becomes overwhelmed with this principle. How can I measure soil compaction if all of these crimes scene technicians are stomping all over the place?
F4F: What are some of the most effective technologies in remote sensing for law enforcement in your opinion?
REED: Oh boy, how much space do I have to answer this one? Well, let’s start with the least “invasive”, meaning techniques that don’t screw up the crime scene. First off, there’s conventional satellite imagery. Google Earth is the starting point, especially if you use their historical imagery capability to compare images before and after the date when the evidence was buried. Next comes higher-resolution imagery, typically from the local tax assessor or the utility companies. An infrared camera is a great tool because you can look for ground that has a weird thermal “signature”. I don’t mean ground that’s glowing with heat because a body is decomposing, but rather subtle differences related to how the disturbed soil is heating up or cooling off during a 24-hour period. From here, we start in with the geophysics, measuring things such as soil moisture because anybody who’s ever planted a garden knows that turning the soil increases its ability to hold moisture. Then comes ground penetrating radar (GPR) in which we’re looking for disturbances within the natural layering of the soil layers. If there’s reason to believe that ferrous metals (anything that can rust) are buried along with the victim, we might use a magnetometer which measures the magnetic field produced by elements such as iron. An invasive gizmo called a “cone penetrometer” can be used to measure the compaction of the soil. This is essentially a very expensive metal rod that you push into the ground. The penetrometer measures the pressure required to push the rod point to various depth levels. Once you start in with these types of “geo-technical” tools, you’re disturbing the site, so it’s import to start with the least invasive methods and then progress towards the destructive. Sort of like medicine. Start by asking about the symptoms, suggest some changes to diet, exercise, etc. before you pull out the scalpel.
F4F: I can’t think of anyone that has used technology more effectively to advance our abilities to locate clandestine graves. Can you talk about how you’ve adapted RockWare technology to forensic science?
REED: Thanks. I’m blushing. Mostly, I’ve added a bunch of programs to RockWorks for merging the data from the different disciplines and boiling it down to a single target. This means “normalizing” the data from the botanists, the remote sensing (e.g. thermal), geophysics, etc. so that we can compare apples with apples. The next step is to “standardize” these spatial (map) data sets such that they’re expressed in terms of “standard deviations from the mean”. That’s a fancy way of saying that we’re converting the data to units that represent weirdness relative to undisturbed terrain. Finally, these programs boil all of this disparate information into a “dig here” map. The technical terminology for this type of analysis is “N-dimensional, multi-variant, weighted spatial analysis” – a great term to throw out when you want to intimidate a cross-examining defense attorney. Another big improvement, thanks to the on-site forensic experience involves ease-of-use. It’s one thing to write a program that you can use if you’re sitting in a quiet office with the luxury of silence and a user manual. It’s another thing to create an interface that is useable on the hood of a squad car when everybody around you is making you nervous. We’ve also added one-click export to Google Earth thereby eliminating the coordinate conversion hassles that drive investigators away from computers.
F4F: You worked on high profile cases all over the world. What was your most memorable experience?
REED: There have certainly been some cases that impress my friends, like going to Russia to look for Anastasia Romanov, but the ones that I remember the best are the ones that I’d really like to forget. Don’t get me wrong; the rewards from this type of work are profound. Directly helping to put the boogie-man away, providing “closure” to family members, working with world-class scientists, befriending some of the greatest law enforcement people – these are the some of the many benefits. But … in the last few years I’ve been paired up to work side-by-side, in the field, with cooperative perpetrators including serial murderers. Being nonchalant and friendly with these guys has taken a toll. In one instance, I left the group for about a year until the nightmares went away. Eventually, I realized that there was a hole in my life that NecroSearch filled so I became active again and sure enough the nightmares started right back up. The difference is that I now accept them as “normal” costs well worth the benefits. Part of the job.
F4F: You’re on the forefront of new technology. What do you see emerging in the next five or ten years that may help law enforcement find clandestine graves?
REED: Ground-based LIDaR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) is going to absolutely and unequivocally revolutionize crime scene investigations. Most law enforcement folks haven’t even heard of it yet, but trust me, it will change everything. Here’s how it works; You arrive at the scene, set up a tripod, mount a clunky gizmo on top, turn it on, and walk away. The LIDaR laser/camera sweeps up and down while rotating, recording the location and color of everything at the site. Every blade of grass. Every twig. Everything. You pull out the memory card, plug it into a laptop and you’ve got a color “point cloud” that exactly reproduces the crime scene in three dimensions. Right now, LIDaR is incredibly expensive, but so was GPS twenty years ago and now every cop has one. For NecroSearch, I see LIDaR allowing us to create micro-topographic surfaces that will show the slightest disturbance (e.g. subsidence). Anybody who has ever visited an old graveyard knows what happens to the ground surface over time. You don’t even need to bury something to create a topographic “anomaly” – just dig a hole, backfill it, and return in a year. You may now be able to see it, but LIDaR will.
For more information about RockWare and their flagship product, RockWorks, visit: www.rockware.com
Interview with a Forensic Botanist: Dr. Jane Bock
Dr. Jane Bock is a forensic botanist and researcher from Colorado affiliated with a number of professional organizations. She has been conducting field research for over four decades and has received numerous awards including the Ralph W. Schreiber conservation award and Hazel Barnes Prize. I first met Dr. Bock while working in NecroSearch International. She has worked numerous murder cases across the nation and is very approachable for those seeking additional information. The field of forensic botany is fascinating. From looking at last meal evidence to disturbances from burial, plant material can provide great insight to an investigation. If you’ve never thought of including botanical evidence in one of your novels you might reconsider after reading this interview. Her new book Handbook of Forensic Botany will be released this year.
F4F: Historically, how long have plants been used in forensic investigations?
BOCK: Forensic botany reaches far back in Western history. Plato, in his writing (Phaedo 399 BCE), describes the suicide of his teacher, Socrates, in detail. Socrates chose to commit suicide by imbibing poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). Plato’s description of Socrates’ symptoms fits exactly the pattern of poison hemlock poisoning today in the US and Europe. Forensic botany became ‘scientific’ with the inventions of the printing press (1440 AD) and the light microscope lenses (1590 AD). Using a microscopic lens, Robert Hooke described the cellular nature of cork cells, later published in his book, Micrographia. The earliest books describing plant cell types followed shortly. Forensic botany came of age in the US in 1934 when botanical evidence was used to solve the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby boy.
Botanical evidence in courts today is accepted readily through both Frye and Dauburt examinations provided the witness shows competence in botanical knowledge. My cases have involved knowledge from three subdivisions of botany: plant anatomy, plant taxonomy, and plant ecology.
F4F: How are plants used in last meal evidence analysis?
BOCK: Dr. David O. Norris and I fostered the identification of food plant cells in criminal investigations and trials. Plant cells usually are enclosed in cellulose walls. These complex carbohydrate walls are virtually indestructible. They pass through the human digestive tract unchanged in their sizes and shapes. It does not matter if the plant was consumed raw, canned, frozen or cooked. Each food plant has cells that are distinctive in size and shape. We commonly examine plant cells from stomach contents. There is a rough time table for how long each stage of the human digestive process takes, and the time for stomach digestion usually is within a couple hours of consumption, then the material passes to the small intestine. This can be helpful in some homicides in estimating the time of death.
Identifying food plant cells from the digestive tract and feces of a homicide victim may link the victim to a certain place where a meal was taken and may link a suspect’s presence to that same place. Two recent cases involved the plant foods found in the stomach contents of people whose exact diets were known (hospital and prison). When the records of the day’s meals were compared with stomach contents, we learned which meal was the victim’s last even though a suspect claimed the person had been killed after a later meal.
F4F: What are the most common types of analysis you’re asked to conduct for law enforcement?
BOCK: Plant Taxonomy: assigning the correct scientific plant name to a plant or plant fragment. Such identification can link a victim to a suspect through plant fragments found in clothes or vehicles. Such evidence also can show a place where a victim and/or suspect visited. what residences These cases are relatively common. Plant Ecology: the relationship between plants and their environments. Here, you test ideas about where plant materials originated. In a case, a truck contained fragments from a mountain setting, but the trucker claimed the vehicle never had left the prairie. This along with other evidence led to a murder conviction.
F4F: Some of the readers may be unaware of the use of pollen, seeds, and diatoms in forensic investigations. Can you talk a little about how they may be used to link a suspect to a crime scene?
BOCK: Most plants are made up of stems, roots, and leaves, plus reproductive parts (flower parts and seeds). These all have cellulose cell walls. However, other organisms have cell walls comprised of other substances. These plant structures can fall into the forensic botanist’s purview, and include pollen, spores, and certain microorganisms. The presence of pollen in association with a cold case homicide can suggest a season when a crime took place because the shedding of pollen is highly seasonal. Diatoms have cell walls of silica and are virtually universal in all bodies of water from mud puddles to oceans. However, species distribution and relative abundances among species have given strong evidence of the source the water in a case. Here, the water in the victim’s lungs indicated that he had been in a body of water that was distinctive from the location described by the suspect.
F4F: You’ve been involved with a number of high profile murder cases over the years. Is there any one case involving plant evidence that really stands out to you and why?
BOCK: High profile cases can be difficult if the media have publicized widely their decision about guilt. For example, in the defense for the Casey Anthony case, making trips to the courthouse involved running a gauntlet of reporters and other supporters of a guilty verdict yelling my name. Also, e-mail threats for the expert if you are involved with the ‘unpopular’ side. The most renowned high profile murder case I’ve worked occurred over 10 years ago and has not been brought to trial. Therefore, it is an ongoing case and my evidence cannot be discussed here. This continues to weigh heavily on me because of what my partner and I know from our evidence. In a recent cold case in Pennsylvania where the victim was an 80-year old woman, we determined the contents her last meal. It had served as the medium for the poison that killed her. We supplied a deposition and this led to a confession of the persons who killed her. Had it gone to trial it would have been very high profile.
F4F: What’s on the horizon in forensic botany? Are there new technologies that are poised to open areas of inquiry that were previously unknown?
BOCK: A worrisome aspect of this field is that it is underutilized and under represented. The approaches described above are simple, inexpensive, and readily accepted in courts. Many more people with forensic interests must train themselves in botany. DNA can be useful in forensic botany, but our lab does not deal with it. It is not especially useful in plant identifications because there are at least 300,000 plant species., and most of their DNA patterns are not known. What DNA can do is link plant fragments from a single plant to a suspect to a victim, to a vehicle, to a place. This works well. DNA analysis is being streamlined and will become more so. Already some kits are showing up so that a major laboratory may not be required.
I am happy to discuss forensic botany with interested individuals, and also to point them to appropriate scientific literature.
MacGuyver Forensics: Carbon Paper Shoe Lifts
Papers on the floor in a crime scene
Real life CSIs sometimes have to find innovative ways to capture evidence. There are a ton of commercial products available for nearly every type of evidence but Murphy has a tendency to rear his ugly head at the most inopportune times (like a homicide scene). Cameras break, your partner forgot to re-stock supplies, or you simply run out. In most cases you can’t just run down to the local Walmart and pick up exactly what you need. Good CSIs learn to develop alternative methods of collecting and preserving evidence (if possible) in the event you need to have a fall back plan. Some purists may scoff at such an idea but in my opinion it’s better to have something collected than nothing collected. The need to use unconventional collection methods is probably more likely for your private detective or amateur detective character. These folks may not have an impressive array of CSI gear because they don’t have to concern themselves with those matters often.
I’ve noted before that footwear evidence is one of the most commonly overlooked categories of physical evidence at a crime scene. Some of that is due to a lack of training, lack of awareness, or simply not having the proper equipment. In real life, the crime lab isn’t called to every crime scene. Usually we just go to the major scenes. Patrol officers don’t carry around electro-static dust print lifters, alternate light sources, and other specialized equipment so sometimes footwear evidence gets overlooked. One of the better surfaces to find two dimensional footwear impressions at crime scenes is paper. Paper may get scattered on the floor during a ransacking or it may just be trash on the floor (like in a warehouse). You can even find these dust prints on broken drywall, carpeting, or doors that have been kicked. Either way it can hold valuable clues. These impressions can be latent (invisible) and need some degree of processing to make visible again.
So what is your amateur detective to do when he/she spots a sheet of paper at the crime scene and thinks there’s a footwear impression on it? One simple process is to use blue carbon paper to make a lift. For some reason, black carbon paper isn’t as good. The process is really quite easy. You start by taking the paper evidence and securing it to a hard flat surface. Taping the corners works well. Then you lay a sheet of blue carbon paper down over the area you think may hold the dust print. Cover that carbon sheet with a manilla file folder or pad of paper and use a 4″ rubber roller to “press” the dust print onto the blue carbon paper. Simply roll the rubber roller firmly back and forth over the area a few times to transfer the image.
Carbon paper over print on newspaper
Using a roller to transfer the impression to the carbon paper
Once that is done the detective can flip over the carbon paper and use a strong oblique light (like a flashlight) to see the image in a darkened room. Any windowless room (like a powder room) works well. Voila! The invisible shoe print is now visible. It may be possible to individualize an impression to a particular shoe but even knowing the make and model of the shoe can be helpful in an investigation. If your prime suspect only wears Nike and the shoe in question is a cowboy boot you may need to search for another suspect right? In the end, a professional CSI would probably get better results using a gel lifter or ESDL but keep this trick in mind when writing your scenes. If your “detective” is unprepared then this might be a good option to recover evidence others may have missed.
Back Spatter from Gunshot Injuries
Back spatter can also travel down the barrel!
There are basically two types of blood spatter; forward and back. Notice I didn’t say “splatter“. Blood spatter is caused when an object impacts a body and forces the blood to break up into smaller droplets. The majority of these droplets are then projected either forward (with direction of force) or backward (opposite the direction of force) essentially. Generally speaking, there is more forward spatter than back spatter in an incident and the blood will disperse in a “cone effect”. The amount of back spatter is dependent on both the energy of the impact and the amount of blood already present at the impact site. For example, a gunshot can create back spatter even when there is no preceding injury. This is influenced by other factors too though. Clothing can “trap” much of the back spatter depending on the type and layers of clothing and location of the wound. If the wound area is not covered with clothing (like the head) then you can see more back spatter. CSIs commonly see some degree of back spatter on the shooting hand in gunshot suicides with head wounds.
The degree of back spatter on the subject varies wildly though. A number of factors influence the deposition of the blood such as subject and victim body positions, wound position relative to subject, distance between subject and wound, the amount of energy causing the spatter, intervening objects (like shooting through a window), and the presence or absence of blood at the impact site just to name a few! The size of the resulting blood droplets varies too. Gunshots and explosions can produce very tiny droplets (with a diameter of 1mm or less) while other impact events can produce larger droplets from 2mm up to 10mm and even larger. You may find back spatter on hands, faces, ears, hair, clothing, weapons, furniture, or practically anywhere near the impact event. It can even be found on items that have been moved to another room (as in a staging). With gunshots, you may find spatter up to four feet from the impact site. In theory, you could find them even further away if there is sufficient air current such as high wind or even the close proximity of a fan.
So how would you use this in a novel? Back spatter can be washed from hands and clothing or even the victim (think of a dog or cat licking the victim). Tiny spatter is very difficult to see however. You could easily have a detective, spouse, or dry cleaner find these tiny spots on a garment, vehicle seat, or window blinds. If on clothing, consider putting the spatter on something like socks, undershirt, or underwear that would have been covered during the suspect’s version of events (or denial of events). That not only places them at the scene but could also place them in a state of undress at the time of blood loss. You get the picture. Be creative and use your imagination to produce a big plot twist.
The Bloodlines Trailer is Here!
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been a bit absent lately. I apologize but I’ve been up to my ears trying to get everything ready for the release of the next novel. I will get a new F4F post up soon! It has been a labor of love to write this series and I am already busy at work on the third and final installment of this story (although Sarah & Co. have many more adventures to come)! I don’t want to give any spoilers but Sarah and friends will be tested in new and exciting ways as they try to bring someone to justice for the sniper killings in The Scent of Fear. If you haven’t read the first book, don’t worry. Bloodlines was written to stand on it’s own. Of course, it helps to have some of the back story but I think it’s still enjoyable and easy to follow. You’ll find some really interesting tidbits about Art and some layers of Daniel’s mysterious past will be peeled away. I hope you enjoy it and thanks again for all of the support.
I have to give special thanks to my new editor Brittiany at Written Dreams. She has been such a professional! She worked hard to maintain my voice and gave me a lot of great advice on shaping the characters and scenes. If you’re looking for a great editor I highly recommend her and her staff. I also want to thank Jerry Dorris with Author Support for another great book cover. I can’t imagine anyone better to work on my book covers. As I stated in my last post I add a lot of symbolism in my covers and Jerry has been very patient with me in getting all of my elements “just right”. Lastly, I want to thank Kevin MacLeod with Incompetech for providing a great selection of music to use in my trailer. He is very talented.
I hope to have Bloodlines available by mid-April. In the meantime, here is the blurb. More information to follow soon…
CSI Sarah Richards is back in the heart pumping follow up to The Scent of Fear. Months after the assassination of Governor Hoines, a determined genealogist stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens to expose a plot to reshape the nation by a rich and cunning family in Colorado. Now the Gerovit, an elite group of Russian assassins returns to destroy any evidence of the conspiracy. As Sarah’s mentor and his nephew Daniel crisscross the nation trying to unravel the genealogist’s coded journal, Sarah must discover how two double murders separated by a century are connected to the most powerful man in Colorado. But with enormous political forces, a team of killers, and her own department working against her, can Sarah unravel the clues before she becomes a part of history herself?
Will Washing Clothes Really Destroy Bloodstains?
Blood evidence is a powerful tool for the crime scene investigator. Whether testing for DNA or examining the bloodstain patterns to reconstruct the events of a crime blood is a powerful witness. This fact is not lost on the criminal. This knowledge is rooted in the old saying “caught red-handed” in which a criminal with blood on his hands was thought to be guilty. So criminals have learned to clean crime scenes and evidence and CSIs have learned ways to recover it. Without getting too deep in the forensic weeds; cleaning efforts usually result in either diluting the blood or masking it. Using a washing machine is an effective way of diluting bloodstained clothing. Criminals also have easy access to washing machines so it’s not too surprising that they may utilize them to wash away evidence.
Some of you may already be asking “why not just throw the clothing away?” It’s a god question but to understand it you have to understand a criminal and what they value. A t-shirt may get thrown away like garbage but if the item is their favorite jacket, sports jersey, athletic shoe, or ball cap then they may just roll the dice. One key thing to remember about all criminals. They will clean a crime scene to a point they do not see the evidence. That doesn’t mean the evidence is gone, it’s just beyond the abilities of the criminal to see it. So…will washing clothes destroy blood evidence? Sort of.
I won’t reveal the current state of DNA detection, suffice it to say that researchers are making breakthrough’s all the time. I’ve written before about the durability of DNA evidence and some of the current case studies and research might blow your mind. On the matter of dilution there are some amazing reagents like Luminol that may detect blood at one part per million. Several years ago I conducted a study to see if we could detect bloodstain patterns on washed clothing. I didn’t have high hopes but I thought it may be possible. The long of the short is that a number of cotton shirts were stained with various bloodstain patterns and then subjected to a series of alternating wash and dry cycles. I used washing detergent with bleach and dried the items in a hot-air clothes dryer. The long of the short is that I was able to detect blood on the clothing after five alternating cycles of washing and drying. At the time I used horse blood and DNA testing wasn’t as inexpensive as it is today so I didn’t address that issue. I just wanted to see if the bloodstain patterns could be detected.
You may want to keep this in mind as you’re developing your story. If your bad guy washes his/her clothing you may want o have your good guy find it. This would also work with victim’s clothing that has been exposed to rain, submersion, etc. If you develop a DNA profile all the better! I certainly won’t criticize you for it.
Bloodstained shirt prior to washing
The same shirt enhanced with Luminol after five wash/dry cycles. Note the shape of the stains have not changed and even the footwear impression is comparable.
Mysterious Blood Bubbles
It’s not uncommon to come across some really interesting bloodstain patterns when investigating violent crimes. It’s much less common to come across a single drop that throws you for a loop. This phenomenon was discovered by a friend of mine and has stumped a lot of examiners. Take a look at the picture of the blood stain and see if you can tell how it was formed. This is a single blood drop; the kind you might expect to drip from a bleeding hand. The stain diameter is probably around 12mm-15mm. Can you figure out how this stain was formed? Let the analyses begin…
UPDATE: Okay, looks like a few of you have given it some thought. Some were in the vicinity but, no one quite figured it out. One of the key aspects of any bloodstain analysis is what we refer to as the target surface. That’s the surface the bloodstain is resting on. In this particular case it is a coated mat board that is off-gassing ever so slightly. As the blood dries from the edges in, the gas is trapped and “funneled” into the middle where the blood is forced up. Pretty cool huh? FYI…we’ve never seen this phenomenon at a crime scene; only in experiments.
What is F.L.I.R.?
F.L.I.R., or forward looking infra-red is process in which a camera, or imager, can detect infrared radiation. It is sometimes referred to inaccurately as “night vision” and has become increasingly popular in movies, television, and novels. More accurately it can be referred to as “thermal imaging”. You’ve probably seen thermal imaging footage from police helicopters or military operations replayed on the nightly news. These cameras are very useful in police operations for tracking suspects at night or in bad weather. You see, infrared cameras do not require any natural or artificial light like night vision goggles. They are also not affected by fog, cloud cover, or smoke. This makes them ideal for operations in nearly any environment. While they are used for certain civilian projects, these cameras are most valued by law enforcement and the military.
These cameras work by detecting temperature variations between objects (like a suspect and his surroundings). These differences are technically changes in the wavelength of the infrared frequency. Cameras can be mounted anywhere but are most often attached to aircraft (helicopters/fixed wing aircraft), ships, or vehicles. They even make hand-held cameras about the size of a camcorder but they are not as common. A camera “operator” monitors a video screen while operating the camera and its settings. In most cases, intensity of “heat” or temperature is represented by a gradient of white light. The hotter the object (like a car engine) the brighter the representation on the video monitor. The “colder” the object the darker it appears on the screen. Some cameras can detect very minute variations between objects created by heat absorption.
FLIR camera mounted on vehicle
FLIR camera on elevated platform
F.L.I.R. cameras are most often used in law enforcement to search for fleeing suspects or during high risk arrests and SWAT deployments. They can even be used to look for changes in temperatures of power lines or structures where occupants are conducting illegal marijuana “farms”. However, these cameras can sometimes be used in forensic investigations too. I have been involved in cases where vehicle mounted F.L.I.R. has been used to search for clandestine grave sites. You see, when a grave is dug and then refilled the soil will be less compact. This change in compaction means that the soil will absorb and retain heat differently than the surrounding compacted soil. The theory is pretty straight forward but the application is much more difficult. It requires an operator with extensive experience because the temperature variance may be only a few degrees (shades of grey). These differences may go unnoticed by less experienced operators.
F.L.I.R. cameras are being used by law enforcement more and more each year. This means it’s more likely than ever that your fictional agency or character can avail themselves of this technology. It may be from a vehicle mounted system or a hand held camera but the potential uses are quite extensive. Some possible uses in your novel may include locating buried bodies, secret compartments, hidden passageways in walls, or anything you can dream up that would produce a significant change in temperature. Don’t forget that heat or cold can be directed through ducting and shafts. Your character might see the heat coming from a ventilation duct or window instead of a body. Use your imagination and have a little fun with it.
